I’m so excited to share with you this bridal shower I shot that’s currently featured in Bridal Guide magazine.  Pick it up on newsstands now to read the full 3 page article!

Before I go into the amazing shower details, let me just tell you how amazing the bride-to-be, Emily, is.  She’s the most positive person I’ve ever met.  Emily and I had our first baby around the same time, and I remember while shooting her newborn, I was feeling a little blue about how fast Cameron had been growing.  I said something along the lines of feeling sad that one day Cameron is going to meet someone and leave me.  She said, “I hope [my son] finds someone he really loves, and who really loves him too.”  That just put everything back to perspective for me, and there has been several profound moments like that where she just made me feel better.  Someone this amazing deserves to be pampered as you’re about to see.

Emily was getting ready to marry the love of her life in Hawaii, so a tropical feel was the perfect prep for her destination wedding.  The very awesome Carolyn of The Special Day planned this – she wanted everyone to feel like they were at a luxurious spa.

Guests were pampered with manicures and pedicures!  …this is a shower I want to attend!

Gorgeous flowers by Mille Fiori.

DELICIOUS catering by Good Gracious Catering.

And the awesome desserts by none other than Esther Kang of Batch from Scratch and MasterChef season 2 contestant.

Amazing shower, right?  Big thanks to Carolyn for bringing me on this fabulous team!

I am feeling like the luckiest girl right now.  Growing up, I never had any close friends.  I had a gazillion acquaintances, but never any close friends.  I hated how cliquish high school was and chose not to be part of any cliques.  Instead, I hung out with several cliques, but was never truly a part of any.   In college, I learned the value of close friends and decided that I would put my energy into those who are real friends.  In grad school, I met a girl named Hanna.  We instantly clicked and have become close friends since.  We saw each other through so many milestones.  She inspired me in so many more ways than she’ll never know.  Her and her now husband inspired me to start my own business.  And Hanna just launched her new company, lollacup, and I couldn’t be more proud and inspired!

I was so fortunate to have the very amazing Fleuretica not only do the flowers for my shower, but also most of the decor.

I LOVE the custom napkins!  I love geometric patterns.  And I LOVE that they used film canisters as mini vases!!!

Custom silk screened place mats:

Can you believe Euri & Kendra hammered in all those nails?

Love the yarn & ribbon signage!

Hanna’s also an amazing chef.  She made all the savory foods, and sent guests home with homemade jam!

I was also so honored to have Esther from Batch from Scratch make desserts for us.  I love the dessert table!

Euri & Kendra spelled out the menu with gold wiring!  And I love the little cotton candy hot air balloons.  Yummy cotton candy by Nina from Tasty Clouds.

I keep telling people that they have to hire Fleuretica for full event design and not just florals.  Look at the amazing details and how creative/crafty they are!

Esther made some amazing Apple tart & scones!

And my favorite was her banana pudding!  I ate an entire container:

Isnt’ the yarn ladder cute?

I love all the little button adornments.  For those who don’t know, I used to sew most of my own clothes.  Too busy now-a-days, but I want to start again.

And pretty letter pressed cards from Papeterie.  I heart letter press!

And the winning puppet from the puppet decorating contest:

Thank you all for showering me with so much love and support!  In case you’re wondering, one of my favorite gifts were the dinners that people delivered to me during the first month postpartum.  Hanna organized a dinner delivery service where my friends signed up to bring me dinner and it was the best thing ever!  For the first week, the days just blur into one loooong day.  It’s nearly impossible to get out of the house the first 2 weeks, and difficult to get out of bed the first few days!  I can’t believe this was only a few months ago.  Pre-Cameron days seem like a world ago.

This is totally long overdue.  Johanna & Charles had an amazing destination wedding in Palm Springs last year.  40-50 of their closest friends and family drove/flew out and spent an entire weekend with them.  They rented out an entire resort! (more on that in the next post)  Jonathan and I had the luxury of staying there too and what an awesome experience it was to have the entire resort to your party.  We drove in on a Friday for their rehearsal dinner at Mister Parker, at The Parker Hotel.

We started off with some portraits before guests arrived.  One of their favorite things to do is to lounge at the bar with a martini, so what a better way to kick off the day.

I just love the decor at The Parker.

And I love her glasses.

There’s pretty much eye candy every direction you look.

Johanna is just so adorable.  I love how playful they are, but also how hot she can be too.

We also ran into the desert for a few shots.  Can’t be in Palm Springs and not soak in the hot desert, right?  Actually, the weather was nice.  It was fall after all.  And if I remember correctly, it was chilly at night.

I don’t know why I like this next photo.  Something about her carefree spirit wandering and him, though with reservations, still trusting and following.  That’s the same for the opening image too.

And the very iconic front doors of The Parker:

Then we headed back for their rehearsal dinner at Mister Parker.  It’s a little restaurant where the only thing you can see of it from outside is this flashy door.  Black curtains cover the entrance itself and there are no windows inside.   From what the manager told us, lots of celebrities frequent this place because it is so discrete and private.

I love how quirky this place is:

The cocktail area:

The room started to fill up…

The food at Mister Parker was phenomenal, i.e. escargot:

The party ended with an impromptu bachelor/bachelorette party at a somewhat local strip club, but no photos from there. 

Stay tuned for their rustic Moroccan wedding!

I came home from NY today with the pleasant surprise that I was featured on Style Me Pretty while I was gone!  NY was amazing!  Such an amazing city!  The crazy part is that we were at time square and didn’t even know there was a car bomb there until we got home and saw it on the news!  So glad nothing blew up!  On to happier matters, let me share this cute bridal shower with you.

Linda from Lumiani Events is usually the one planning events for other people, so it was so great to see her surprised with a party where she was the guest of honor!  The ladies at Lumiani Events did a wonderful job planning and decorating this charming backyard shower for her.

They did all the decor & flowers themselves!

The refreshing drinks were perfectly displayed for this warm backyard party!

And who can resist Sprinkles cupcakes, right?

One of Linda’s favorite cake & bakeries is from Susina.  The cake is amazing!

Each girl who arrived received a ring pop.  If you say “Linda”, you have to forfeit your ring to the person who first called you on it.  Her future sister-in-law was the master at this game:

Another activity was the underwear decorating contest.  Guests decorated throughout the day and hung them up for Linda to judge.

The winner also cracked me up!

I love their hearts theme!

You see those vintage chairs & benches?  The benches were all made by Linda’s fiance for their wedding ceremony.  What a keeper, right?  lol.

Their flower arrangements were so simple, but so very charming!

And I just love their tablescape!

Congrats to Linda & Dat!  Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness!  Linda, hope you have fun with all your new toys from the shower!  *wink wink*

On a random technical note, this was shot mostly on Kodak film… expired in 2007.  The rest is digital.  With one of the cameras we bought, the seller threw in rolls of Kodak film.  I thought I’d try it out for the sake of it.  After using them, I looked and realized that they expired in 2007.   The colors needed a little correcting, but that’s it.

Before I go into this awesome event, let me take you back to the year 1983.  It was Christmas night.  My dad was watching the Lakers play Portland.  My mom was pregnant with my brother.  My mom started to go into labor. and my dad said, “Hold on, there’s only 20 more minutes in the game.” My mom actually waited too!  She ended up needing a c-section, so my brother was born just after mid-night on December 26.  Our family still jokes that my brother could’ve been a Christmas baby.

This fabulous event was put on by none other than Carolyn of The Special Day and Nisie of Nisie’s Enchanted Florist.  These two are unbelievably creative & innovative!  It’s Rex’s 40th birthday and he celebrated in style!  His family enjoyed a weekend getaway at Pelican Hill and watched the Lakers game before dinner.  I got to get some shots before the game was over and guests arrive.

I love the yellow & purple!  Carolyn had a trellis thing built for the hanging ornaments.

Love the tulips!

I got a photo of myself in the yellow ornament. 

I love Nisie’s tablescapes!  She has such an eye!

And I love the basketball cake!  Every detail was perfect!

Carolyn tied in the Lakers theme with Christmas perfectly!   That gorgeous Christmas tree was also done by Nisie.

Guests were sent home with customized wine and Swarovski charms.

During cocktail hour, they had a champagne bar.   That was mine shown above. 

There was fresh fruit purees to mix with the champagne, like blood orange, raspberry, kiwi, and peach.  I had the blood orange and it was yummy!  If I wasn’t working, I would’ve tried all four flavors.  hehe

And the h’dourves were so delicious and well presented.

I must get my dad a cake like this someday.

They had a 5 course dinner and it was SO delicious!  Below was the first course, quail breast.  It was so so good!  My favorite was the black cod.  I dream of it still.  It taste like the Chilean sea bass, but a much more sustainable choice!

I love the custom label on the photo booth photos.  Like I said, every detail was perfect.

The birthday boy, Rex!  Cheers!

And then there was a gelato bar!  4 choices of gelato with fresh fruit toppings!

The amazing woman behind this event, Carolyn, with her sister.  They are so cute!  Again, makes me wish I had a sister.

And the funniest photo booth photos.  That first image says, “Audrey had her first wine today!”  Audrey is their 1 year old.  hehe.

Thanks for letting Jonathan & I be a part of this fun & warm family affair!